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BISHOP HOPKINS' ADDRESS, 

AT ST. ALBANS, VERMONT, 
ON THE DEATH OF 

GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 






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ADDRESS 

Delivered Sr request of the selectmen 
OF THE TOWN OF ST. ALBANS, 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1850, 

ON The death of 

(lEIERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, 

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITCD STATES, 



JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, D. H. 

BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF VERMONT. 



-• ST. ALBAAS : 
t'RINTED BY E. B. WHITING, 

1850. 



4-22 

The undersigned, Selectmen of the town of St. Albans, regarding it as fii 
that there be some public demonstration of the feelings of this community- 
respecting the national calamity occasioned by the death of General Zachart 
Tavlor, late President of the United States, have, on behalf of the citizens 
of St. Albans, invited Rt. Rev. Bishop Hopkins to pronounce a discourse on 
this afflicting dispensation. 

It aflbrds the undersigned much pleasure to be able to announce to their 
fellow citizens, that Bishop Hopkins has accepted their invitation and that 
the discourse will be delivered at the Congregational Meeting House on Fri- 
DAT, August 2nd, 1850, at 3i o'clock in the afternoon. 

JOSEPH WEEKS, ) 
ANSON BUCK, > Selectmen. 

JULIUS H. BROOKS, 5 
St. Albans, July 2-1, 1850. 



Si. Albans, Vt, August 3d, 1850. 
Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

The undersigned, Select-men of the town of St. Albans^ 
improve an early opportunity to return to you, on behalf of the citizens of 
St. Albans, their grateful acknowledgments for the able and instructive Ad- 
dress pronounced before them, at their request, on the evening of the 2d 
inst. 

Entertaining a desire in common with their fellow-citizens, that the moral 
and patriotic principles, which were so eloquently enforced there'in, should have 
a more general, and, consequently, a more useful circulation, they respect- 
fully solicit a copy for publication 

Your friends and oVt servants, 

JOSEPH WEEKS, ) Select-men 

ANSON BUCK, J- of the town 

JULIUS H. BROOKS, 3 of St. Albans, 

To the Rt. Rev., the Bishop 
OF THE Diocese of Vermont. 



Burlington, 17., Avgnst 3d, 1850. 
Gentlemen : — 

I comply very cheerfully with your kind request, that I would 
furnish a copy of my Address for publication ; and only regret that it is not 
more worthy of the subject, and of the favorable indulgence with which it 
was received. 

Your faithful friend 

and servant in Christ, 

JOHN H. HOPKINS. 
To Messrs. JOSEPH WEEKS, > 

ANSON BUCK, V Select-men. 

JULIUS H. BROOKS, ) 



ADDRESS 



My Friends and Fellow-citizens : 

The respected officers to whom you have committed 
the civil authority of your town, have called you together 
this day, to mark an otcurrence of rare and peculiar 
interest. " Regarding it as fit that there be some public 
demonstration of the feelings of this community respect- 
ing the national calamity occasioned by the death of 
General Zachary Taylor, late President of the United 
States," they have invited you to manifest your sym- 
pathy on what they have most truly called " an afflicting 
dispensation 5 " and have assigned to me the duty of 
expressing the sentiments appropriate to an event, which 
is invested with no ordinary importance and solemnity. 

In accepting the office, however, thus kindly con- 
ferred, you will permit me to premise, that I have not 
been influenced by any confidence in my powers to do 
justice to the occasion. I see around me many, whose 
quaUfications for such a duty seem far superior to my 
own. The fervid eloquence of the patriot, the deep 
knowledge of the practised politician, the high admira- 
tion of military renown, would all find ample scope in 
the subject assigned to me. And I need not say to you 
that these are hardly to be expected in the ministers of 



4 

Him, whose kingdom is not of this world. But notwith- 
standing my conscious unfitness for the task, I did not 
feel at liberty to decline it, lest my motive might seem 
to be an indolent indifference to the wishes of my friends. 
And therefore I have to ask for an indulgent hearing, in 
the hope that although I cannot excite your feelings by 
the talent of the orator, I may yet succeed in address- 
ing to your understandings the words of soberness and 
truth. 

The order which I propose to follow is suggested by 
the terms in which the invitation has been presented to 
me. A brief sketch of the life and character of our 
lamented Chief Magistrate, with the reasons for consid- 
ering his unexpected death as " a national calamity " 
and " an afflictive dispensation," w ill embrace the greater 
part of what I design to set before you. 

It appears from the slight statements which have met 
the pubHc eye, that General Taylor was the son of a 
revolutionary patriot and soldier, from whom he doubt- 
less imbibed liis early predilection for the military pro- 
fession, and his principles of earnest devotion to the 
honor of his country. He was born in Orange County, 
Virginia, on the 2nd of November, 1784, and is there- 
fore one of that extraordinary band of men whom " the 
Old Dominion" has raised to such exalted eminence, 
in the battles and the councils of the Nation. Like 
many others of our most distinguished countrymen, he 
was kept in the safe and manly labors of agricultural 
life, until he was of age; and in the year 1808, he indulg- 
ed liis fondness for the army, by accepting the commis- 
sion of 1st. Lieutenant in the Infantry. Two years af- 
terwards, at the age of twenty -six, he married ; and in 
the Indian war of the North-west, under General Har- 
rison, during the year 1812, he distinguished himself 



greatly by his cool and determined courage. This war 
being ended, and the army reduced, he returned to the 
pursuits of husbandry j but in 1816 he was again in ser- 
vice at Green Bay, with the rank of Major, and after- 
wards served in the South, being seldom absent from 
active duty. In 1819 he was promoted to the rank 
of Lieutenant Colonel j and in 1832, we find him a Colo- 
nel, serving in the Black Hawk war. Four years after- 
wards, he was ordered to Florida, and in 1837, he fought 
the memorable battle of Okechokee, which was followed 
by the close of that protracted and difficult contest, and 
obtained for him the brevet rank of Brigadier General. 
In 1840, he took the command of the first depart- 
ment in the South-west 5 and in 18 15, he was ordered 
to the frontier of Texas, where he established his head- 
quarters at Corpus Christi. The following year, in obe- 
dience to the instructions of President Polk, he marched 
to the Rio Grande, and then began the series of those 
brilliant and surprising victories, which fixed on him the 
admiring gaze of his country, and excited the astonish- 
ment of the civilized world. The battle of Palo Alto 
was fought on the 8th of May, 1846, followed, the next 
day, by that of Resaca de la Palma, and, on the 18th 
of the same month, by the taking of Matamoras. The 
ensuing September witnessed the capitulation of Mon- 
terey, and February 22nd, 1847, was distinguished by 
the wonderful victory of Buena Vista. Dazzled by the 
splendor of a career, almost unexampled in modern war- 
fare, the whole nation rang with applause and gratula- 
tion, which were powerfully enhanced by the singular 
modesty and simplicity of their favorite hero, and yet 
more by the universal tribute of affection to his frank 
kindliness and benevolence of heart. The highest office 
in the gift of the people was thought by some to be the 



6 

proper reward of so much merit ; and the idea, once sug- 
gested, gained force with great rapidity, notwithstanding 
the vast popularity and pre-eminent claims of other can- 
didates, whom the country would have been delighted to 
honor. On his return from Mexico to the United States, 
in the Fall of 1847, he was received everywhere with 
the most unbounded enthusiasm. In June, 1848, the 
Whig Convention at Philadelphia nominated him for 
Presid(Mit, and in November of the same year, he was 
elected over General Cass, the opposing candidate, by a 
majority of one hundred and sixty-three electoral votes 
against one hundred and twenty-seven. His inaugura- 
tion took place on the 5th of March, 1849, and he dis- 
charged the duties ot his exalted office, with the increas- 
ing confidence and affection of the great body of his 
countrymen, for little more than a year j when it pleased 
the Almighty Ruler of nations to remove him to that 
unseen and spiritual world, where the voice of praise 
or censure, from human lips, can reach him no more. 
On the 9th of July last, the hero passed through his 
final earthly conflict, surrounded by his agonized family, 
the members of his Cabinet, and many anxious friends ; 
while an immense multitude thronged the public grounds, 
waiting, in sad susi)cnse, for the melancholy announce- 
ment. His dying words were strongly characteristic : 

^' I AM PREPARED 1 HAVE ENDEAVORED TO DISCHARGE 

ALL MY OFFICIAL DUTIES FAITHFULLY." SoOU after- 
wards his voice failed — he sunk calmly into his last 
sleep — the blow descended gently: but it smote upon 
the national hc^art, and the universal feeling with which 
it has been received proves, beyond dispute, the deep 
hold he had gained, upon Uie reverence, the love and 
the confidence of the i)eople. 

It would l)e n(;ither consistent with my ministerial 



character, my friends, nor in accordance with your own; 
sound judgment, that I should make the shghtest effort 
at a studied eulogy, on this occasion. As a servant of 
the Prince of peace, I can have no strong sympathy 
with military glory. And standing aloof from all party 
politics for more than thirty years, I am perfectly 
unconscious of any prejudice, which could affect the 
dispassionate exercise of the best judgment in my power. 
But in the clear and unclouded light of impartial opinion, 
I think it must be granted that our departed Chief Ma- 
gistrate was an extraordinary example of high excellence, 
uniting in one those qualities which are seldom found in 
combination ; and which it is not likely that we shall ever 
see again, so singularly marked, in so exalted a station. 
It was not merely that his courage in the field of 
battle exhibited the boldest and most daring intrepidity 5 
for this he shared in common with a host of heroes. — 
Nor was it that he loved his country with the pure 
affection of a patriot ; for this, I truyt, may be asserted 
of many others. Nor was it that he displayed, in union 
with the most chivalric bravery, the most benevolent 
temper and the kindest heart 5 for this too, is no uncom- 
mon trait amongst the warriors of our nation. But it 
was that in the midst of the most splendid military 
success, he seemed almost unconscious of his acknowL 
edged greatness — that he sought to do the fullest justice 
to the merits of his subordinates, while he passed by his 
own — that he took the largest share of the perils, the 
hardships and effective service of war, while he cared 
nothing for its pomp, and pride, and glittering appendages 
— that notwithstanding it w as the profession of his early 
choice, and that he owed his elevation to its triumphs, 
yet he regarded it, at best, as a necessary evil, and 
mourned over its calamities as a Christian man — that 



8 

wiien he saw himself the favorite of the nation, his mod- 
esty shrunk back from the Presidential chair, and his 
honest candor frankly professed his want of knowledge 
and ability — that he could not be induced to adopt the 
ordinary measures of political expediency, to propitiate 
the leaders of party, and shewed himself nobly superior 
to all the natural promptings of ambition— that after he 
was placed on the loftiest pinnacle of official power, his 
political opponents could find in him no trace of self- 
complacency, resentment, partiality or pride, but rested 
their chief complaints on the ground that he suffered his 
Cabinet to dictate in questions of removals and appoint- 
ments, instead of taking the entire government of the 
matter into his own hand'— that his independence of 
sentiment was so great as to keep him aloof from all 
Southern influence, notwithstanding he was himself a 
slave-holder — and, in a word, that in the midst of every 
temptation which this world could offer, in the shape of 
honor, fame, wealth, power and popular idolatry, he 
maintained the same constant character of frank sim- 
phcity, transparent truth, cordial kindness, sober wisdom^ 
strict justice, and unbiased patriotism. 

It is manifest that the loss of such a man, at any time,- 
would be regarded as a national calamity. But there 
are peculiar reasons for the opinion so generally enter- 
tained, that in the present distraction of our public 
councils, the death of a President who united so admi- 
rably the (jualities of the hero and the sage, is an event 
of the saddest import to the country. It may be well to 
state at large the argument for this prevailing impression^ 
and to test its correctness by facts and principles, familiar 
to us all. 

The immense accession of public territory consequent 
upon the settlement w ith JMcxico, and the application of 



9^ 

California to be admitted into the Union as a Free 
State, have roused a conflict in our great national le^is- 
lature, on the exciting subject of slavery, vv hich has been 
totally without example for duration. ]>Iany Southern 
members of the highest standing have presented a form- 
al menace of secession, if something be not done to pro- 
tect their favorite institution from the increasing prepon- 
derance of the North. The best intellects of our Coun- 
try have been occupied for more than half a year in de- 
vising a plan of friendly compromise, which shall give sat- 
isfaction to the majority and keep our glorious confedera- 
tion together. And our wisest and most experienced 
statesmen agree in the opinion that the country is in 
danger of an internal convulsion, which no true-hearted 
American can contemplate without the liveliest appre- 
hension and solicitude. 

At such a time it is, that Divine Providence has seen 
fit to take away our former chief magistrate, to whose 
pure impartiahty, prcmpt energy, and kindly moderation 
the great body of the nation were disposed to look as 
to a strong arm of defence in a day of trouble. They 
saw him in full possession of every qualification which 
might be desired to guide the ship of State through the 
fury of the storm, and preserve it from the rocks and 
shoals which threatened it with ruin. They knew him to 
be devoted to his duty, fearless of danger, and prepared at 
all risks, to do his utmost in the service of the Union. 
They knew that he was firmly opposed to fanaticism, 
whether of the North or of the South ; that he had pro- 
posed to himself the principles of Washington, as the 
highest an d safest model for his own adminirtration 5 
and that he was ready to put down, with all the vigor of 
his character and the power of his office, the first move- 
ment in any quarter, which could bear the imputation 



10 

of treason or conspiracy. And when they heard that 
his valuable life was suddenly cut short, they felt as if 
their best hope for the nation had perished, and the 
clouds which hung over the public council seemed to 
lower w ith ten fold darkness, and they mourned as if the 
country had lost its most faithful guardian, its most effec- 
tive friend. 

Doubtless, all this was an easy and natural result of 
the confidence and affection, which the character of our 
departed President had w on from the national heart. — 
And in itself it was not only the most unquestionable 
tribute that could have been rendered to his merits, but 
it served to give its true force and effect to the event, 
which was assuredly designed to be, in the wisdom of 
Providence, precisely what your authority has called it, 
" a pubhc calamity, and an afflictive dispensation." 

But yet, as in all similar cases, the language of regret 
is not w ithout a strong tendency to exaggeration. It i» 
by no means a necessary inference that this painful be- 
reavement is intended to produce any evil results to the 
peace or safety of our beloved country, nor that it should 
be regarded otherwise than as a wholesome corrective, 
appointed, in the mercy of the Almighty, to rebuke the 
sins and the follies which are our worst enemies, and to 
warn us not to rest our confidence on an arm of flesh,^ 
but only on the wisdom and might of the true Ruler of 
nations. To this view of the subject I would therefore 
ask your attention, since it is the duty of explaining it, 
in accordance with the true Christian principles of gov- 
ernment, which induced me to address you, on such an 
occasion. All Americans agree in acknowledging that 
our great and glorious confederation has a special and 
sublime mission amongst the nations of the earth, to 
teach them the practical possibihty and real superiority 



I 



11 

-of a popular constitution, in which the people are all 
personally interested 5 electing, by an universal suffrage 
their own law-givers and rulers, and thus making every 
man, to some extent, an actual sharer in its administra- 
tion 5 abolishing all privileged orders of nobility, opening 
to each individual the prospect of honor and advance- 
ment to which his virtues and his talents may entitle 
him, but denying all access to any political rank, inde- 
pendent of the judgment of his fellow citizens. 

It is generally conceded, also, that our admirable 
Constitution takes for granted the virtue and intelligence 
of the great body of our people, and rests them both on 
the only sure basis of the Christian religion. This is 
demonstrable from the fact, that the admission to all our 
higher offices is guarded by a solemn oath, appeahng to 
the great Searcher of hearts ; that the same oath, or an 
affirmation equivalent thereto, is required in the 
administration of justice 5 and that no one who disbe- 
lieves a future state of rewards and punishments can 
be allowed to give testimony on any trial. It is still 
further proved by the laws of every State in the Union, 
forbidding the violation of the Christian Sabbath day, 
and punishing the sins of blasphemy and profanity 
agaisast the sacred Scriptures. But it is quite superflu- 
ous to enlarge on this topic. For if there be a proposi- 
tion about which mankind may be said to be universally 
agreed, it is surely this : that there can be no true liberty 
without morality, and no true morality without religion. 

It is likewise granted that the peculiar blessings of 
our system of government are to be found in the arts of 
peaceful industry and useful enterprise, that it is neither 
designed for nor adapted to wars of conquest, although 
admirably suited to a war of defence 5 that the military 
-spirit is eminently unfavorable to public and private 



12 

prosperity, and that while every citizen should be able 
to be a soldier on occasions of necessity, every soldier 
should remember that he is a citizen, so that the military 
may always be subject to the civil power. 

Advancing on these principles from a small beginning, 
our country has gone forward with unexampled success 
and prosperity, until it is now, in little more than half a 
century, the admiration and wonder of the world. — 
Far and wide, our example is operating amongst the na- 
tions of Europe. Far and wide, there is a sentiment of 
reverence for our name. Far and wide, our privileges 
are the subject of envy or desire to millions of the hu- 
man family. And if we are but true to our principles 
and faithful to the Constitution, which rests our liberty 
on the virtue and the intelligence of the people, and 
bases that virtue and intelligence upon the sure founda- 
tion of the Christian religion, the same blessing which 
has hitherto made us a burning and a shining light, will 
continue to prosper us, until ultimately, perhaps, the 
diffusion of freedom may extend throughout the whole 
globe, and prepare it for the great and final consummation. 

But here lies the difficulty. We have not been true 
to those principles. We have not been faithful to that 
Constitution. We are growing proud of our prosperity 
and vain of our strength. We idolize the heroes and 
the statesmen of our Revolution, and forget the God 
whose instruments thcj were. We idolize the heroes 
and the statesmen who have succeeded them, and 
fasten our fiiith to these, and worship their greatness, 
and rely on tlieir power, and forget the Almighty 
Sovereign to w hom both we and they are alike account- 
able. And bonce comes the necessity of " national 
calamities, and afflictive dispensations,'' that God, in His 
mere}', may shew us our error; and lead us back to 



13 



the Source of uU lasting prosperity, in which our fath- 
ers trusted 5 and remind us that it is He that ruleth 
amongst the children of men. 

It may be necessary, however, to specify a few of the 
proofs, which shew the downward tendency of our ao-e 
through this sad neglect of fundamental principles. 

1. And first, I may refer to the mode in which our 
laws for naturalization have been administered. Those 
laws expressly require the Judges to be satisfied con- 
cerning the moral character of the applicant, and his 
intelligent approval and choice of our principles of gov- 
ernment. And foreigners possessing such qualifications 
as these, would, indeed, be a welcome addition to the 
strength and resources of the nation. Pat it is notorious 
that thousands are admitted year by year to all tiio 
privileges of citizenship, without the slightest real claim 
to the morality and intelligence which the laws demand. 
And, thus, in many places, the whole power of the elec- 
tive franchise is actually taken out of the hands of the 
lawful owners, by the votes of men who are utterly unfit 
to exercise the right, according to the true theory of 
Republican Government. 

2. From this abuse has sprung another, viz. the cor- 
ruption of our elections, in which the votes of multitudes 
are confessedly bought and sold, and no sort of trick or 
stratagem is thought immoral, if it be only employed in 
the service of party. It is surely impossible to excuse 
this on any ground of true republican principles. 

3. It follows quite naturally, that the candidates them- 
selves arc often chosen without regard to moral^ and al- 
ways chosen without regard to religious character. In- 
deed, this last would frequently be thought rather an ob- 
jection. It is true that a certain measure of knowledge 
and ability is admitted to be necessary ; but this is taken 



14 

for granted, and the main point considered is availabll' 
ity for party purposes. Here is the only cause which, 
in three prominent instances, led to the selection of a 
military hero for the office of President. No intelligent 
man, I presume, can doubt that General Jackson be- 
came the popular idol of the nation by the splendid vic- 
tory of New Orleans, and that it was the name of hero 
that opened his path to the Presidential Chair. Gen- 
eral Harrison owed his political success to the same 
popular love of martial glory, and " the hero of Tippe- 
canoe " was the magic phrase which emblazoned his pre- 
tensions. And so it was with our late lamented Presi- 
dent. His surprising victories in Mexico raised him to 
the rank of hero in the public eye, and had more actual 
influence in procuring his election than a thousand sober 
virtues could have exercised. And yet no thoughtful and 
considerate mind could ever believe that the art of war 
was a consistent introduction to the science of political 
j^overnment, or that success in the one was any argu- 
ment of fitness for the other. It was doubtless a happy 
event, that those military presidents were men of rare 
merits in other points of character. But it was not on 
these that their favor depended with the people. They 
were pure objects of hero-worship, and notliing more. — 
And, therefore, I refer to them to show, that we have 
quite as much regard for the shining points which catch 
the popular eye, as the ages that have gone before us ; 
and provided we have thet-e, we concern ourselves but 
little for the homelier qualities of morality and virtue. 

4. The next topic of our reproach arises from the 
political maxim tliat " to the victors belong the spoils," 
by which every change of administration puts thousands 
of men out of office, without any fault except the unpar- 
donable one of having voted for the unsuccessful candi- 



I 



15 

date. On the theory of our Government in its early 
youth the question to be asked concerning any public 
officer was supposed to be this : " Is he honest, and is 
he capable V But it is a long while since that theory 
has been acted on, with any tolerable consistency. 

5. And here we have to acknowledge the grievous 
abuses of that party spirit, which is not only the cause of 
the evil last mentioned, but of an innumerable host of 
other sins against justice and truth. It is party spirit 
which seeks so often to sacrifice the worthy and exalt 
the vile j which studiously flatters its own candidates^ 
and as studiously reviles their antagonists 5 which calls 
evil good, and good evil, and puts darkness for light, and 
hght for darkness 5 which separates chief friends, and 
tramples recklessly on the dearest relations and most 
sacred obligations of life, whenever it is enlisted in the 
service of political venality. True, there is nothing new 
in this. All the older nations have set us the example of 
the same corruption. But our republican system de- 
mands a higher and a purer principle, if we would be 
exempt from the fearful convulsions of other times and 
countries ; nor can we hope to do much towards the ef- 
fectual reformation of foreign governments until we have 
learned to purify our own. 

6. The sixth point that I would notice is the deplor- 
able want of public decorum and ofiicial respect, which 
has so frequently, of late years, disgraced the character 
of our legislative assemblies, and, at last, has even invad-^ 
ed that most dignified body, the Senate of the United 
States. 

7. And when to all this, we add the new-born lust of 
foreign territory ; the wild and reckless crusade of our ul. 
tra abolitionists against the institutions of the south 5 and 
the equally wild and reckless spirit in which they have* 



10 

been resisted ; to say nothing of other points of reprehen» 
sion, surely we have reason to bow our heads in sorrow- 
ful acknowledgment that the early character of our na- 
tion is fast changing for the worse, that we have insen- 
sibly departed far from the true theory of our republican 
system, and that we need the corrective hand of Divine 
Providence to curb our pride, to recall us to a sense of 
our dependence on a higher power, to force us to reflect 
and feel, to open our eyes to the dangers towards which 
we are rapidly tending, and to awaken us to a conscious- 
ness of the solemn truth that, "Righteousness exalteth 
a nation, but sin is the reproach of any people." 

It is but a few year,«, since we all witnessed the extrav* 
agance of our hero-worship in the case of President Har* 
risen. It pleased God to rebuke us by a " national ca* 
lamity, an afflictive dispensation." In a little month af- 
ter his entrance upon office, he was stricken by the hand 
of death, and we were called to lament what many were 
disposed to think a most untimely bereavement. Two 
presidents succeeded, and behold ! another hero arose, 
and gave us a new opportunity to fall into our favorite 
idolatry. He has been spared to us somewhat longer, 
but now, he too, is taken away. Far be it from me to 
deny the claims of either. Both were eminent w arriors, 
both were pure and honest patriots, and both had well 
earned, by a life of cons-i lent and laborous duty, the 
praise and confidence of their country. But this is no 
reason why we should forget that the best and greatest 
men are only the instruments of a higher power ; that 
all their succe ses and their triumphs are His appoint- 
ment 5 that we can have nothing, either as a nation or 
as individuals, except what we receive at His hands 5 
that when He sees fit to withdraw one of his eminent 
official servants, it is a light thing with His Providence 



1^ 

to raise up another in his place ; and that, so long as the 
great body of our citizens render all their worship to 
Him who alone is entitled to it, as their Creator, Re- 
deemer and Preserver— remembering that they must 
not place an over-weening dependence in the powers or 
virtues of any mortal, but rest with all their faith upon 
the grace and goodness of the Almighty,— -so long they 
may be assured of His blessing : so long, the Lord will 
teach their rulers truth, and their Senators wisdom : 
so long, if a David be removed, a Solomon shall suc- 
ceed him ; and the tears of mournful regret shall be fol- 
lowed by the voice of joyful gratulation. 

There is not, my friends, in the wide earth, at this day, 
a nation which is, in all respects, so favored as our own. 
None where the laws are administered with so much 
equality, where the poorest man finds it so easy to gain 
a competent subsistence, where there is so great an av- 
erage of ordinary instruction and intelligence, where 
there is so little suffering from oppression, where the road 
is so open to affluence and honor, where so many of the 
citizens have it in their power to become the owners of 
the soil, and sit in peace under their own vine, with 
none to make them afraid,— where, in a word, the good 
Providence of God has showered down His best gifts 
in such rich profusion, and bestowed upon the mass of 
our citizens so large a measure of comfort and prosperi- 
ty. But I put it to your own sound judgment to say 
whether we, as a people, have made a suitable return 
for all these benefits ? Have our piety and zeal kept 
pace with our blessings ? On the contrary, do we not 
resemble those chosen and favored Israelites, who beiran 
to play the idolater in the very zenith of their glory and 
renown 5 and, as a just punishment, were divided into 
two nations, which ever after regarded each other with 



aversion and hostility ? And although it must be grant-^ 
ed that our idols are not like those of the ancient or 
modern heathen, yet do they not involve the same sub- 
stantial sin of departing from God ? Does not the in- 
spired apostle expressly say that covetousness is idolatry % 
Is not the over-weening confidence placed in the ob- 
jects of popular applause, another species of the same 
sin ? Do we not virtually ofiend against the divine pre- 
rogative, when we indulge our national pride, and claim 
all the praise of our Country's greatness for our heroes 
and our statesmen, without any just and thankful ac- 
knowledgment to the Almighty Ruler ? And notwith- 
standing the number of our Churches and our Ministers, 
is it not true that the authority of the Bible is often set 
aside, and that irreligion and infidelity are increasing? 
Hence it is, that we are in danger of far heavier trials, 
— far more afflicting and awful dispensations, than 
that which we are called upon to deplore this day. The 
distracted state of our great national legislature is thought 
by many, to be ominous of approaching disunion. So 
deep was the anxiety of our late President's mind upon 
this subject, that some have confidently assigned it as one 
of the causes of his death. But whether that idea bo 
well-founded or otherwise, it is easy to imagine how sore 
a trial to his feelings it must have been, to witness the 
alienation, the strife, the bitterness, which have marked, 
for six long months, this first Congress of his administra- 
tion. How his patriotic heart must have yearned, as he 
pondered over those alarming questions : Is this glorious 
confederation, indeed, threatened with dissolution I Af- 
ter leading the soldiers of the Republic so long against 
our foreign enemies, shall I now be compelled to wage 
battle with our bretiiren in a civii war ? Is the wild 
spirit of ultra-abolitionism to be gratified by trampling 



i 



f 9 

down our Constitution, and deluging our land with the 
blood of our own fellow-citizens ? Can it be possible 
that already, before that noble Constitution has lasted a 
hundred years, surrounded by every privilege and bless- 
ing, the envy and the admiration of the world — that so 
soon, and in such circumstances of unparalleled pros- 
perity, we are to be torn asunder by internal discord, 
only because we can neither be content with the herit- 
age which our fathers have bequeathed to us, nor thank- 
fid to Providence for the marvelous superiority of our 
national lot ? That such reflections must have pressed 
upon the departed hero's mind, can hardly be doubted 5 
since we are assured, by our greatest and wisest states- 
men, that this terrible risk is actually before us — that 
this most awful of earthly calamities is not only possible 
but probable, — nay, that it is, perhaps, nigh at hand. 
May God, of His infinite mercy, avert the impending 
danger ! May His spirit calm the angry storm of reck- 
less violence and passion ! May His omnipotent word 
say to the fury of the tempest. Peace, be still ! 

I know not, my friends, how far the avowal of my 
own sentiments on the agitating controversy of the day 
may accord with the feelings of my respected auditory. 
In this matter, I speak only for myself, and desire that 
€very intelligent man that hears me, should enjoy the 
same unbiassed freedom of opinion. But I should de- 
spise myself as totally wanting in the moral courage 
which becomes a Christian repubhcan, if I shunned the 
occasion of distinctly stating my own fervent hope, that 
the great and wise leaders of our political councils may 
succeed in their patriotic effort to calm the chafed spirits 
of our southern brethren by some judicious course, 
through which the true intent and meaning of our noble 
Constitution may be vindicated, aj^d our country be re- 



20 

stored to unity and peace. It is not that I have any 
sympathy with the institution of slavery. My feehngs 
and my hahits are all opposed to it, and I regard it as a 
serious evil, which I should rejoice to see abolished from 
the earth. Were it in my power to direct the energies 
of our General Government, I would gladly devote all 
its vast resources to the object of purchasing the freedom 
of every slave within the Union, and settling them upon 
the shores of Africa, on the model of Liberia, and aiding 
them to enlio-hten and civilize that vast continent from 
which their fathers came. The Mexican war alone has 
cost us one hundred millions in three years, for an ad- 
vantage which is, as yet, of doubtful utility to our own 
best and highest interests. And it is susceptible of a 
strict arithmetical calculation, that the annual interest 
of twice that sum, continued for a period of fifty years, 
would suffice to emancipate our three millions of slaves, 
so as to relieve the country of the whole, during the life 
of the rising generation, and make them a blessing to Af- 
rica and the world at large. But neither this nor any 
other plan, at all commensurate with the evil, can be 
adopted, without much time and grave consideration. 
And, meanwhile, I cannot condemn our Southern breth- 
ren as sinners, because they use an institution which the 
law of God expressly allowed to ancient Israel, and 
which the precepts of the Gospel were never supposed to 
forbid, before the commencement of the present century. 
I cannot see the justice of denouncing them, because 
they claim the protection of the Constitution for their 
legal rights, as that Constitution has been expounded by 
the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest tri- 
bunal of our country. I cannot blame them because 
they refuse to reduce themselves to beggary by emanci- 
pating their slaves without a fair equivalent, nor because 



m 

they are unwilling to expose tliemselves to the danger of 
the conflict and confusion, which would be the probable^ 
if not the inevitable consequence of retaining such a 
population amongst them. Nor can I wonder at the 
strong excitement which they feel at the doctrine of our 
ultra -abolitionists, when they hear and see themselves re- 
viled as the enemies of God and man, unfit to hold com- 
munion with a Christian Church, or to have a place 
amongst a Christian people, merely because they main- 
tain what was the doctrine of the whole Christian world, 
only fifty years ago. 

But here I must ask you, my friends, to note careful- 
ly the distinction which the ultra-abolitionist. is always 
confounding. The holding of an African slave is one 
thing, and the abusing him by cruelty or oppression is 
another. I cannot for a moment doubt that the Bible 
allows the relation of master and slave, while it con- 
demns the treating of the slave in any other manner than 
is consistent with the Gospel precepts of justice, kindness 
and afi'ectionate consideration. The sin therefore lies, 
not in the relation itself, but in the abuse of that relation 
by acts of immorality and severe ill-usage. And al- 
though I freely admit that the institution is liable to 
these abuses, and therefore desire most cordiafly, for 
that and various other reasons, that it may be done 
away, yet I know that there are many slave-holders who 
are eminent for every Christian virtue, who treat their 
slaves with all possible benevolence and care, and to 
whom those slaves look up with loving attachment, as 
their best earthly friends and benefactors. But the ul- 
tra-abolitionist can see no dift'erence between the use and 
the abuse of the institution. According to his creed, 
slavery, under all circumstances, must be an unpardon- 
able sin, an unmitigated atrocity: totally forgetting that 



22 

if the Gospel had forbidden the allowance of slavery, 
these millions of Africans who have lived and died in 
the midst of Christian influence, must have remained in 
their own benighted land, sunk in the extreme darkness 
of the grossest idolatry, and exposed to a depth of heath- 
en corruption and ferocious tyranny, in comparison with 
which, the worst alleged abuses of southern bondage are 
light indeed. 

Frankly and fully, therefore, do I agree, in relation 
to this matter, with your great statesman, Daniel Web- 
ster, and with, as I verily believe, the intelligent and re- 
flecting minds which compose the majority of our clergy 
and our people throughout the Northern portion of the 
Union. With them, I deplore the evils of slavery. 
With them, I earnestly desire its total abolition, as soon 
as it can be attained in the spirit of Christian kindness 
and constitutional principle. With them, I would sin- 
cerely deprecate and oppose any needless extension ot 
the area of slavery. But with them, also, I would refuse 
to do evil that good may come. I would refuse 
to relieve the slave by the ruin of the master. I 
would refuse to wrest the word of God under the mistak- 
en hope of advancing the march of freedom. I would 
refuse to re-model the Church, by the exclusion of the 
slave owner, in the face of apostolical authority. And I 
would refuse to trample on the Constitution — the su- 
preme law of the land, and thus risk the commencement 
of a civil war, with all its horrid and atrocious conse- 
quences, only in order to force prematurely, what will 
be much more likely to come to pass in the exercise of 
kindness and forbearance, and what I doubt not will 
come to pass, with the cohsc^|t of all concerned, in the 
Lord's good time. 



23 

1 have specified the name of Daniel Webster on thiW 
occasion, distinctly, not because he holds a different 
opinion from many other eminent Statesmen, but 
because he has been made the peculiar subject of so 
much abuse and obloquy, for his disinterested, patriotic 
and magnanimous course, in the service of the whole 
Union. Alas ! have we not here another sad proof of 
the violence of prejudice ? When such a man can be 
so recklessly assailed by his former admirers, his very 
motives calumniated, his integrity aspersed, his honor 
and his purity of purpose slandered, only because he 
has conscientiously preferred the performance of his 
pubhc duty to the nation at large, before his personal 
interest in his own district ! These, however, are the 
very circumstances which test the power of principle. 
It is an easy thing to defend the truth, when truth is 
popular and acceptable to our party.- But the States- 
man who can resolve, if necessary, to sacrifice himself 
to the welfare ot his Country, is a patriot indeed. 

And now, my friends, to conclude — let m« entreat 
you, one and all, to reflect seriously on the prospect 
before us. We have met together to deplore the 
calamity — the afflicting dispensation, which has deprived 
us of the hero, so lately raised to the highest office in 
the gift of man. But he has departed in honor and in 
peace. No more can his ears be pained by the conflict 
of party. No more can his heart be wrung by the sad 
anticipation of civil war, with all its frightful train of woe 
and desolation. For him we have nothing to regret. 
Years could have added nothing to his fame, nor is it for 
us to say that a longer life would have enabled him to 
establish a better claim to the affection of his country. 
But how do we propose lo shew our reverence for his 
memory ? la it by encouraging this ne\^ and disorgan- 



u 

izmg doctrine that the Southern slave-holder must he de- 
prived of our sympathy as a Christian or a man ? Why 
then did we help to elect a Southern and a slave-holder 
as our President, and why do we come here this day to 
unite in lamenting his death, as an afflicting dispensa^ 
tion ? Shall we not rather testify our sorrow for his loss^ 
by aiding to the utmost of our power, in maintaining the 
glorious Union, whose battles he fought during almost 
forty years ? Shall we not rather imitate his patriotism 
by opposing the enemies of that noble constitution, which) 
under the guidance of a favoring Providence, our fa- 
thers framed as a model to the world ? Shall we not 
range ourselves to a man with our faithful representa^ 
tives, who, though they are all opposed to the extension 
of slavery, are yet more opposed to the awful perils of 
civil discord, as bound by oath and in conscience, to 
legislate for the peace and welfare of the Whole nation ? 
And above all, shall we not imitate the course of those 
Revolutionary heroes, who, in the hour of perilous dis- 
sension, resolved to look to God as their leader and 
their guide, in the prayer of humble dependence and 
trusting faith, that He would vouchsafe His favor and 
protection ? 

True, our glorious nation has been intoxicated by a 
marvelous career of prosperity. True, we have been 
loo much devoted to the love of gold, the power of popu- 
larity, the ambition of conquest, the worship of men. 
True, we have been neglectful of the divine Source of 
all our blessings, and have forgotten that we are the 
purchased and redeemed inheritance of the Lord of 
hosts. But He has not yet cast off nor abandoned us. 
Our rulers are not yet delivered over to delusion. 
Our departed Chief ^Vlagistrate is succeeded by another, 
as able in the Cabinet as was his predei'essor in the 



25 

field, and animated, as we trust, by the same zeal for 
the welfare of his Country. He has summoned to his 
aid a band of advisers who, as a whole, have no su- 
periors in the land, for talents, experience and devotion 
to their official duty. If then, the feeling of the nation 
be right, what forbids us to hope that the course of 
our public prosperity will be onward, and still onward, 
in the union of high national, and cordial, fraternal 
fi^ympathy, in the development of our vast resources, in 
the increasing reverence for law and order, in a loftier 
morality, and, as the spring and regulator of all the rest, in 
a deeper sense of practical religion ? Thus, by due de- 
grees, the North and the South may como to a harmo- 
nious sentiment on the subject of slavery. The angry 
spirit of crimination and recrimination once passed away, 
a peaceful and united effort may be made by the whole 
power of the nation, to convert the slaves into freemen, 
and settle them on the coast of their father-land, as the 
pioneers and guides of liberty and religion to that be 
nighted continent. And then will our glorious countr> 
have accomplished a deed, 'beyond all Greek, beyond all 
Roman fame,' sure to carry down the names of the actors 
to the remotest posterity, and to attract the applause 
and admiration of a grateful world. 

I have but little more to add, nor shall I trespass much 
farther on your kind attention. I doubt not that many 
of my respected auditors agree with me in the opinion 
expressed at the commencement of my address, that the 
selection of your orator has not been fortunate, and 
that I am but poorly qualified to do justice to your wish- 
es, on an occasion like this. On that point, at least, we 
shall not differ in opinion. But I can assure you, with 
perfect sincerity, that I have not sought so much to say 
what might be acceptable at the moment, as to place 



20 

before you what I believe to be profitable, because I be- 
lieve it to be true. In the ultimate power of truth, I 
have the most absolute confidence, since it is truth, and 
only truth, to which the Supreme Lord and Ruler of us 
all has promised the final victory. Error may triumph 
for a while. Even good men may be seduced by the 
impulse of their own generous feelings to become its ar- 
dent advocates, and in seasons of strong excitement and 
controversy, it may carry them away from the calm, 
pure light of Christian reason and consistency. And at 
such times, the advocates of truth may be abused and vil- 
ified. Yea, they may spend years under a cloud of odi- 
um and calumny, and may die at last in a vain struggle 
against popu'ar delusion, as many a martyr has died be- 
fore them. But truth does not die with them. Truth is 
immortal, truth is eternal, because it is the oflfspring of 
His word who liveth and abideth forever. 

If I have succeeded in raising any of your minds this 
day to that Fountain of truth, — if, in some reasonable 
measure, I have aided any amongst you to put away the 
violence of party spirit, to cherish the feelings of old affec- 
tion towards all the members of our glorious Union, to 
regard the existing evils of our country in a spirit of 
patient hope and prayer, and mildly but firmly to dis- 
courage the disorganizing efforts, which endanger alike 
the peace of Church and State, and which may, if not 
checked in season, involve our happy nation in one wide 
spread deluge of anarchy and blood — then, my respected 
friends, I shall console myself with the reflection that 
your time has not been spent quite unprofitably, and 
that my humble and imperfect labor has not been alto- 
gether in vain. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 897 596 



